Through the Reels: Project 365: Movies 179

179 / 365: Grandma's Boy (2006)

God, this movie was stupid. My affection for Nick Swardson aside, this movie is for someone else, but not really for me. I laughed, it had its moments, but in the end, it was a movie that wished it was Zoolander that didn't even come close. The scope was small and every character was petty, even our hero, Alex (Allen Covert), who was

Alex is a video game tester who just can't grow up. After getting evicted from his apartment and trial-running couch-surfing at all his friends' places, he's left sleeping at the office. That is until his Grandma (Doris Roberts) offers to let him stay with her and her two elderly roommates. A twisted version of Golden Girls ensues, where Grandma takes advantage of her grandson, making him do manual labor chores, when all Alex wants to do is get high with his friends and design a video game that will change the gaming world forever.

Not only is the plot predictable, but the comedy is, too. I enjoyed seeing Linda Cardellini in there as the only actual adult in the movie, and it made Alex and his buddies more interesting when she let her hair down to hang out with them. Even then, though, everything gave off a "minimal effort" vibe. The only aspect I genuinely liked was the company Alex and his friends worked at—gaming companies are exactly like that. Otherwise, this movie is for a crowd that doesn't include me.

Rating: ★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: No

180 / 365: West Side Story (1961)

This movie was the #51 film on my AFI Top 100 countdown challenge. Read my full review here.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

181 / 365: Fantastic Four (2015)

New movie release, reviewed previously on Through the Reels. Read the full review here.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

182 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

This movie was the #50 film on my AFI Top 100 countdown challenge. Read my full review here.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

183 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Since it's nearly impossible to say "this movie" instead of "these movies" when you talk about Lord of the Rings, this critique acts as a continuation—a sequel, of sorts—to my review for Fellowship of the Ring, featured on the AFI Top 100 countdown. Appropriate, I think. What's not difficult to say is that this movie is my favorite of the three. It's also, arguably, the one that is inherently flawed.

Picking up immediately where the first film let off, Two Towers has no real beginning. In that same vein, it also leads directly into the third and final film, so it also has no real end. It's this fact that makes me love it most, but it also throws traditional pacing out the window. There are no wrap ups, no (okay, very little) exposition, and the stakes couldn't be higher. It's focused, non-distracted storytelling at its best. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) have continued on alone to Mount Doom with the One Ring, separating from the Fellowship, which is already beginning to break apart. With Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) taken prisoner, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys Davies) go in search of them, ridding the land of evil when and where they can.

Every characters' true personalities begin to come out during this film, as they're faced with isolation, betrayals, and crippling fear. This film also features Gollum (Andy Serkis) most prominently, and he is without a doubt the the series' most compelling character. The motion capture of Serkis in the role still looks incredible thirteen years later, and I'm still bitter that he didn't even get an Oscar nomination. He's that freakin' good. The energy of the movie is also what sets it apart. The shift from the climactic battle of Helm's Deep, my favorite battle of the trilogy, is humorously paired with Merry and Pippin's drawling conversation with Ent (aka giant tree creature), Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys Davies). Every time Peter Jackson cuts away from the action at the stronghold to the meandering calm of the Forest is cause for a chuckle. Not because it's funny, but because it's so delightfully jarring.

I don't believe there's a single lover of this trilogy that doesn't have a favorite. The group I marathoned the films with almost unanimously cited their favorite as Fellowship. Not a surprise, since it provides the emotional introductions that gripped our attentions to begin with. But Two Towers is intense, interesting, and unexpected. Not a single character walks away without putting some serious skin in the game, which neither of the other movies can claim. They're all in the most danger at all times, and without spoiling too much any silly people out there who haven't seen it, this one makes you cheer the most. For me, that's what makes a movie memorable.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

184 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

To say this final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is "less than" the others is nebulous. It's wonderful, an excellent cap off to an epic series that is also the only one to snag that coveted Academy Award for Best Picture (the previous films were nominated, though, nothing to scoff at). But it's also the most laborious of the bunch. With a myriad of wishy-washy denouements, distracted battle sequences, and very few new characters of note, Return of the King struggles to maintain the momentum that the previous two set. But even still, it's really freaking good.

Frodo (Elijah Wood) has made it to the bowels of Mordor, the home of the Ring of Power's master, the Dark Lord Sauron. Pushing towards Mount Doom, the burden of the Ring may well be to much for Frodo to bear as his paranoia overtakes him and prompts him to push away his steadfast friend, Sam (Sean Astin). The remainder of the Fellowship, fresh off of a victory at Helm's Deep, has continued on to Gondor, the home of Aragorn's (Viggo Mortensen) ancestors and the location of the empty throne off the King. Nestled at the edge of Mordor, the armies of Middle-earth prepare for war, not knowing when or if Frodo will accomplish his mission to destroy the Ring forever.

While this might be my least favorite of the three films, it does contain my favorite scene: Pippin singing sadly as the men of Gondor ride into battle, and towards death. The film contains many quiet, torturously sad moments, that make it feel more settled that the previous two. Our journey is almost over, and the end is in sight. When watching these films back-to-back, that all feels remarkably cathartic. But it can also feel frustrating, because the story isn't as tight, or doesn't move as quickly, as we might want.

It's no wonder that Return of the King falters a bit as it closes out the series. Nothing to air major grievances about, but if we are—which we are—comparing the films, this final chapter had a hefty role to play that the others were saved from. It was responsible for succinctly, clearly, and masterfully wrapping up every plot line and character arc, not to mention make every fan of Tolkien's world feel satisfied. A tall order, one that no movie, no matter how good, could accomplish. But King came as close as any. In the end, we've witnessed a story of epic proportions, with stakes that never cease, even towards the end as these characters we love bid farewell to one another.

A worthy film, to say the least, with an ending (multiple endings) that indicate just how hard it was for all of us, especially the filmmakers, to say goodbye.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

185 / 365: Irrational Man (2015)

Irrational Man has its Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? moments, the dynamic between higher education faculty and the dissatisfaction with life, always lecturing and never turning off that need to tout philosophies... it's grating if you can't find the humor in it. I imagine many people wouldn't, even if only because this comes no where near Woolf's satiric melodrama. Unlike Woody Allen's standard comedy stemming from neuroses, this stems from complacency—the desire to have life mean something all while the realization that it doesn't crushes you into inaction.

Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a pot-bellied, depressed philosophy professor with a reputation that precedes him: he's trouble, but he's brilliant. Skeletons in his closet aplenty, Abe arrives at a wealthy New England college writhing with buzz and gossip, where he meets Jill (Emma Stone), one of his students who's become infatuated by the mystery that surrounds him. Through the trivial dance of "will they or won't they?" (spoiler alert: they will), Abe overhears the tragic story of a stranger that compels him to take action, and plan the perfect murder.

Dual narrations—switching between Jill and Abe—throw the film's balance off, pulling away from the interesting nature of Abe's emotional rebirth and diluting it with Jill's entitled tripe. The strength her character possesses comes out of left field, and her indignation (obsession, even) with Abe and his actions makes her come off as indignant, not just. Jill's mind-numbing self-righteousness might represent Allen's brand of comedy, as it only serves to highlight the heavy-handed intellectualism. Try to dress Emma Stone in all the peasant dresses and shirts you want in order to add to her youthful naivete, or have her always furrow her brow questioningly, none of it works. She doesn't work.

Phoenix' turn as antihero, Abe, however, works on almost every level. The constant proselytizing aside, the manner in which he speaks about the world, his plan, his frustrations, are simultaneously smart, delusional, and humorous. He finds a nice balance within the character, walking that find line of Allen's script that is presenting a complicated and despicable man. Even his relationship with fellow faculty member, Rita (Parker Posey), offers some wonderfully telling moments. It's only when he interacts with Emma Stone's Jill that the movie turns tone deaf. It's like they're acting in two different movies, and no matter how on purpose her lack of self-awareness is, it's insufferable to endure.

Allen might be blinded by his most recent muse, Emma Stone, but allowing her any major role as a protagonist in this film was a huge mistake. She could easily have been on the periphery, projecting her unique brand of wide-eyed emotions in Abe's direction, but saving us from having to see it in every other scene. There was potential with Abe's story, but with so little time spent focusing on it, the crime, the drama, the passion, everything drags awkwardly to a less than cathartic climax.

Rating: ★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

186 / 365: Ricki and the Flash (2015)

The ingredients that make up this movie are clearly hand-selected for maximum Kim appeal. Diablo Cody script. Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep singing. My favorite Meryl Streep daughter (Mamie Gummer) playing Meryl Streep's daughter. How could this recipe not come out perfectly golden brown?

Ricki (Streep) is a struggling, albeit self-satisfied, rock performer living in Los Angeles, performing regularly at a local dive bar with her band, The Flash. When her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline, who is aging incredibly well, I might add), calls to let her know that their daughter, Julie (Gummer), is getting a divorce... and not handling it well, Ricki reluctantly hops on a plane to Connecticut to visit the family she hasn't seen in years.

Despite the fact that this script has a subtle "first draft" feel to it, it still manages to be fully formed. Clearly they have the A+ talent to thank for that, which also includes four-time Tony winner Audra MacDonald in the grotesquely one-dimensional role of Pete's second, longer-lasting, wife. How Audra walks away from this movie without my despising her is a testament to her skills. The arguments throughout (of which there are many) are overly vitriolic, prompting more than one "Geez, everyone, calm the eff down!" reaction. There's solid drama without everything needing to turn nasty, but within minutes, it's clear there's no avoiding it.

Streep has the ability to be likable in every role she takes on, which is ideal for Cody's inherently flawed protagonists (think Juno or Young Adult). It's hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this role—not because it's complex; it's not, at all. The fact that Ricki lacks complexity is why someone of Streep's acting caliber needed to embody her. Ricki has a predictable arc, and a self-absorbed reaction to nearly everything that happens in the film. But it's Streep who is an emotional dynamo, and she infuses Ricki and her surrounding relationships (especially that of The Flash guitarist, Greg, played by Rick Springfield), with boundless, necessary depth.

Don't expect too much from this movie. It's worth seeing for the Streep/Gummer scenes alone, but there is added entertainment in other moments that keep it from being forgettable.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Project 365: Movies 179 - 186

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